by Jerry Ascierto, PR News (excerpt)

This recent article from PR News looks at changes in the social media marketing landscape as Facebook shifts away from branded content. In the article Brian Solis argues for bringing humanity to social media marketing: “The good thing about social media is it gives everyone a voice. The bad thing is…it gives everyone a voice. But really, what it comes down to is trust. Trust is where the future of social media starts. Social media is a human network, it’s people connected to people. We need to go back to the old days of social media as community, where it wasn’t about numbers, it was about doing something together that matters.”

Solis’ comments come from his keynote presentation at Social Media Marketing World 2018.

From the article:

In a rousing keynote, internet pioneer Brian Solis talked at length about how social media has changed behavior, not always for the better. As technology undergoes exponential change, so too does its impact on our societal norms and cultural beliefs, a dynamic he dubbed “accelerated selfie-actualization.”

The irrepressible genius @briansolis keynoting #smmw18 talking about the past, present, and (somewhat scary) future of #socialmedia Great job, my friend. ???????????????????? pic.twitter.com/8cCqIsWoa0

— Jay Baer (@jaybaer) March 2, 2018

“People are now brands and brands are trying to become people,” said Solis. “Now everybody’s an influencer in their own way. Everybody influences someone else.”

But the proliferation of fake news spread by bots shines a spotlight on the darkest aspects of social media as the public’s trust in brands and institutions continues to slip. In Solis’ view, we’re now at an inflection point, where social media can return to its original intent.

“The good thing about social media is it gives everyone a voice. The bad thing is…it gives everyone a voice. But really, what it comes down to is trust,” he said. “Trust is where the future of social media starts. Social media is a human network, it’s people connected to people. We need to go back to the old days of social media as community, where it wasn’t about numbers, it was about doing something together that matters.”